Then-Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach, whose district included John Wayne Airport, questions a representative of Delaware North as officials debated proposals for food services at John Wayne Airport.

John Moorlach, then an Orange County Supervisor and Bolsa Chica Conservancy board member with his wife Trina Moorlach of Costa Mesa during the OC Dreamin' Gala at the Quiksilver Headquarters in Huntington Beach in 2013.

Then-Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona enters the Ronald Reagan Federal Building in Santa Ana in 2007.

The number of retired Orange County workers making more than $100,000 in annual pensions has more than doubled in the past five years, even as debate rages about the financial health of the county’s and other pensions.

What’s more, powered by annual cost-of-living raises, former county employees who made the most during their careers are taking up a bigger chunk of the pie in retirement, according to an analysis by the Orange County Register.

In all, 1,131 retired county workers collect $100,000 or more annually, meaning 8.4 percent of the pensioners are getting 24 percent of the pension kitty. Five years ago, the $100K club accounted for 4 percent of county retirees and received 13 percent of the pie.

The average pension paid to former county workers is $44,435 a year; and 12,262 retirees make less than $100,000 a year. County pension recipients generally don’t collect Social Security.

“The guys at the top are getting richer,” said Marcia Fritz, a Sacramento pension activist and certified public accountant.

Data for the Orange County Employees Retirement System obtained by the Register show that 13,393 county pensioners have received $48.8 million in cost-of-living adjustments during their retirements. For some of the oldest retirees, the raises have pushed their pensions far above what they were paid when they were working.

In a few cases, pensioners make more than the people who do their former jobs.

Consider former County Counsel Adrian Kuyper, who retired in 1991, when his final average salary was $129,000.

Today, Kuyper gets $218,659, or about $8,000 more than the recently appointed county counsel, Leon Page.

“He got a no-risk annuity,” said Fritz. “He doesn’t lose it no matter what happens to the market.”

Kuyper, 87, served the county for 34 years. As a lawyer, he theoretically could have made significantly more in private practice.

He said in an interview that the guaranteed pension is why he stayed in government practice.

“I’m not trying to justify it or criticize it … I’m just saying that’s the way it is,” Kuyper said. “That was my career.”

The no-risk nature of government pensions is so solid that even going to jail won’t endanger a retiree’s benefits.

Take former Sheriff Mike Carona, who this year returned to Orange County to finish the last few months of his 5 1/2-year federal prison sentence in home detention. While behind bars for witness tampering, cost-of-living increases pushed Carona’s yearly pension to $231,921 – $18,000 more than when he was working.

The cost-of-living adjustments are voted on annually by the retirement boardand tied to the Consumer Price Index, capped at 3 percent.

They come at a time when the county’s pension is 70 percent funded, meaning it has $7 out of every $10 needed to cover its long-term commitments. Some accountants say retirement systems should be at least 80 percent funded to be considered financially stable.

State Sen. John Moorlach, a nationally recognized expert on pensions and a former Orange County supervisor, said longer lifespans plus cost-of-living adjustments combine to pose a threat to the long-term health of the pension fund.

He sees limiting cost-of-living adjustments as a tool to restore the county pension, and possibly others, to fiscal health.

During his tenure on the county board, Moorlach considered floating a bill that would cancel cost-of-living increases for retirement systems that were less than 80 percent funded. Now that he is in state office, Moorlach said he might revive the proposal to affect all pensions in California.

“Otherwise, you are emptying (the funds) way too quickly,” said Moorlach, who recently started collecting a pension worth $83,820 a year after serving the county for 20 years.

Robert Kinsler, spokesman for the retirement system, said the cost-of-living increases are no different from the ones given by Social Security – except Social Security doesn’t guarantee such a large part of a retiree’s salary.

Jennifer Muir, general manager for the Orange County Employees Association, questioned the focus on higher-paid retirees, noting that most who work for the county don’t live in luxury in retirement.

“It’s unfortunate these sticker-shock stories erode public confidence in people who contribute by working hard and playing by the rules,” Muir said.

“There’re no janitors, no clerks, no librarians making $150,000 a year.”

Muir and others point out that the pension is structured on retirement formulas approved by policymakers.

The pension plans have encouraged employees to retire earlier with a larger share of their salaries – pushing the fund’s long-term debt to $4.9 billion. The tax-guaranteed pensions come from employee contributions, contributions by government agencies and retirement system investments.

In recent years, newer government employees have been forced to pay for a larger share of their benefits.

But that doesn’t mean the plan is closer to solvent.

“Mortality rolls are your biggest variable. I don’t see those coming down any time soon,” said Gary Caporicci, a local certified public accountant who specializes in municipal pensions.

“There are fewer employees, but that won’t change retirement for the next 20 years.”

Tony Saavedra is an investigative reporter specializing in legal affairs for the Orange County Register. His work has been recognized by the National Headliner Club, the Associated Press Sports Editors, the California Newspaper Publishers Association, the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association and the Orange County Press Club. His stories have led to the closure of a chain of badly-run group homes, the end of a state program that placed criminals in inappropriate public jobs and the creation of a civilian oversight office for the Orange County Sheriff's Department, among other things. Saavedra has covered the Los Angeles riots, the O.J. Simpson case, the downfall of Orange County Sheriff-turned felon Michael S. Carona and the use of unauthorized drugs by Olympian Carl Lewis. Saavedra has worked as a journalist since 1979 and has held positions at several Southern California newspapers before arriving at the Orange County Register in 1990. He graduated from California State University, Fullerton, in 1981 with a bachelor of arts in communication.

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